Twins 7, Indians 2: Justin Morneau continued his RBI tear by driving in a pair of runs and Ryan Doumit hit his career-high 16th home run as host Minnesota posted its third straight win after losing the opener of the four-game series.
Pedro Florimon doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in a run for the Twins, who pulled even with Cleveland for fourth place in the American League Central.
Morneau opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly and added an RBI single in the sixth to give Minnesota a 3-1 lead. Morneau has recorded 14 RBIs in his last 12 games, including 11 in 10 contests this month.
Florimon led off the sixth with a triple and scored on Ben Revere's single before hitting an RBI double in the following frame. After advancing on a groundout, Florimon raced home on a wild pitch by Justin Masterson to make it 5-2.
Doumit capped the scoring in the eighth with a solo blast, eclipsing his previous season high of 15 homers set in 2008 with Pittsburgh.
Samuel Deduno (6-3) worked seven solid innings, allowing two runs and three hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Deduno is 2-0 in three starts against Cleveland this season.
Masterson (11-13) surrendered six runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 frames as he fell to 2-7 lifetime versus the Twins.
Lonnie Chisenhall's solo homer was one of three hits by the Indians, who are 4-5 this month after going 5-24 in August. Chisenhall was making his first appearance since suffering a broken right forearm on June 29 against Baltimore.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Indians SS Asdrubal Cabrera was kept out of the starting lineup because of a sore right wrist. Brent Lillibridge got the call and went 1-for-3. ... Minnesota OF Chris Parmelee was a late scratch with soreness in his right groin. He suffered the injury running for a line drive in Sunday's victory. ... Twins DH Josh Willingham was back in the lineup after missing Sunday's game with a sore left hamstring. Willingham went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Cleveland | Minnesota | |
Justin Masterson | Player | Samuel Deduno |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.2 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 6 |
7 | Hits | 3 |
8.10 | ERA | 2.57 |
Cleveland | Minnesota | |
Lonnie Chisenhall | Player | Pedro Florimon |
1 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 5 |
.333 | Avg | .500 |